The 4th Self-Employed Income Support Scheme grant will cover the time period 01/02/2021 to 30/04/2021 and those who are eligible to claim will be contacted by HMRC in mid-April to give you a date that you can make your claim from. They will contact you either by email, letter or within the online service. You will need to make your claim before 01/06/2021.
Who can claim?
The 4th grant can only be claimed by those who are self-employed or a member of a partnership. If you trade through a limited company or a trust, you cannot claim this grant.
This time, HMRC are going to be including the 2019/2020 tax returns if they have been submitted on or before 02/03/2021. You must have traded in both the 2019/2020 tax year and in the 2020/2021 tax year as well.
You can either be currently trading but are impacted by reduced demand due to coronavirus or have been trading but are temporarily unable to due to covid-19. You will also need to intend to continue to trade and have a reasonable belief that you will have a significant reduction in your trading profits due to the pandemic between 01/02/2021 and 30/04/2021, and you will be required to keep evidence that shows how your business has been impacted and resulted in less business activity than normal. You can find examples here for different situations where there has been reduced activity, capacity or demand: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-your-trading-conditions-affect-your-eligibility-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme#examples.
When you are trying to decide whether you have had a significant reduction in your trading profits, you do not have to take into consideration any of the coronavirus support scheme payments that you’ve received.
How will HMRC work out eligibility?
HMRC will look at your 2019/2020 Self-Assessment tax return to start with. In order to be eligible for the grant, your trading profits must be no more than £50,000 and at least equal to or more than your non-trading income. From there, HMRC will then look at the self-assessment tax returns for the 2016/2017 tax year, 2017/2018 tax year, 2018/2019 tax year and the 2019/2020 tax year. They will then work out your average trading profits and grant amount. The grant will be worth 80% of 3 months’ average trading profits with a maximum amount of £7,500. This page will explain the process fully as to how HMRC will work out your average trading profits: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-hmrc-works-out-total-income-and-trading-profits-for-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme.
There are some circumstances that can affect your eligibility such as your return being late, you are a member of a partnership, you’ve had a new child, you have loans covered by the loan charge provisions, you’re a military reservist, and a few other situations. HMRC have provided further information here about the various circumstances: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-different-circumstances-affect-the-self-employment-income-support-scheme.
How do I treat the grant in my accounts?
The grant must be recorded in your accounts and on your self-assessment tax return for the 2021/2022 tax year, as it is subject to income tax and self-employed national insurance contributions.
When will the next grant be available?
The 5th SEISS grant will cover May 2021 to September 2021 and the information for that grant will be provided at a later date.
I am continually monitoring the updates that the government and other business-related departments release and will continue to share that information for as long as I feel that it is beneficial to all businesses in the UK.
The information and policies are continually being updated by the government, so I urge you to keep on top of the information by visiting the relevant website for your area.
UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-to-employers-and-businesses-about-covid-19/covid-19-support-for-businesses
Scotland: https://www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/
Wales: https://gov.wales/business-and-employers-coronavirus
Northern Ireland: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/
I will be trying to keep myself as informed as possible and will share relevant information on my fb business page: https://www.facebook.com/ihelmenterprises/